西門金峰魯肉飯

📍Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Today is a day for sightseeing in Taipei. Tired of the usual places we visit, this time my teammate had the brilliant idea to check out popular spots favored by tourists.

We arrived at Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice located in Ximen. The newly renovated shop is fresh and clean, with a self-service ordering machine right at the entrance. After placing the order, you can enter the shop — the flow is good and it doesn’t feel cramped inside. There are staff members at the entrance to assist with using the machines. I saw an elderly gentleman who seemed a bit confused about the ordering process, and the staff kindly went over to help him, which I thought was great!

The decor features a trendy industrial style, and the shop has spacious interior with plenty of seats. It was quite comfortable to dine on a weekday afternoon when there weren’t many people. There's a large screen at the counter showing the current calling numbers, and you can pick up your food using the number tag, which is simple and clear. I think it's very friendly for foreigners who might be visiting for the first time.

This time we ordered for two:

• Small Braised Pork Rice ($40) and Small Chicken Rice ($50)
  The braised pork rice had more fatty meat but didn’t feel greasy at all. I really liked the texture of the rice — it was sticky and delicious 😋 with a generous amount of sauce. The chicken rice was rather ordinary, with less sauce, leaving about half a bowl of plain rice, which was a bit disappointing. So compared to the braised pork rice, I thought the latter was better.

• Golden Needle Mushroom Pork Rib Soup ($70)
  I was surprised to find this golden needle mushroom soup, typically found in mountain cuisine, on the menu! The soup was lightly flavored, carrying a subtle note of golden needle mushrooms. The meat was well-stewed and flavorful, but I thought it could use a bit more seasoning to be even better 😆.

• Braised Egg ($15) and Blanched Vegetables ($35)
  Both were good, but they were quite standard in performance!

In summary, I wouldn’t say it was exceptionally delicious, but it was quite nice. The overall environment feels more comfortable after the renovation, and it would be a suitable place to bring foreign friends for a meal. Unfortunately, they use disposable utensils for dine-in which isn’t very environmentally friendly. The owner explained that it's due to a severe labor shortage and is a necessity. I hope they can improve this in the future!